Intersting article I wanted to share with all. Are we going back to time again? Read on! ====================================================================== GOVERNMENT ADVISORY BODY ECHOES FAR-RIGHT WITH A CALL FOR RACIAL SEGREGATION IN HOUSING ______________________________________________________________________ http://www.redaction.org/news/mar_01.html#02_03_01 Following on from recent government proposals to fund demands from some ethnic communities for their children to be educated seperately, the chair of a government advisory body has now called for housing to be segregated on racial lines as well. In a speech to a European conference in Amsterdam on Febuary 14th, Parmit Uppal, chair of the Tennant Participation Advisory Service, openly called for the widespread adoption of racial segregation in housing, claiming that "some communities want to live closer together." Advancing the arguments for segregation, Parmit Uppal insisted that it is wrong to "focus on segregation being a weakness...segregation is not weakness" but means in reality "sustainable communities, family ties, cultural and friendship ties", which "should all be valued in housing allocation policies". She went on: "The Government might say it is not good, it could also be the view of the middle classes and the intellectuals, but it is not the view of the masses." Commenting on the controversial speech a TPAS spokesman said: "People naturally want to be with people who share their values". While the call for absolute racial segregation may leave many anti-racists and and anti-fascists uneasy, it also the logical and eventual outcome of the promotion of diversity through the multicultural strategy supported by all the mainstream parties, and the self-styled revolutionary left. Other groups and organisations who would vigorously if not violently reject the multicultural ethos, but which would nonetheless enthusiastically take up the call for racial segregation on the premise that "people naturally want to be with people who share their values" are the National Front, C18 and the British National Party. Prominent among what the BNP describe as 'interesting quotes' on their website is one from Muhammed Ali, himself a black nationalist: "All thing's like to stick to their own kind, tigers with tigers, red ants with red ants, black ants with black ants...whites and blacks are totally different, different cultures, different natures, different tastes..." It is unlikely Parmjit Uppal has much time for the BNP but she does seem to share their values. And if of course segregation is good for black communities then one must assume it would also be good for white communities. But if this argument is accepted it brings society full circle, making a mockery of the principle of anti-racism in the process. For instance support for the call for racial segregation in the name of anti-racism would leave the original principle in tatters, both isolated, and unsustainable. A reality that is surely undeniable. Furthermore the unaddressed logic of calling for disparate racial groups to be 'housed, educated and policed' only by people with whom they 'share their values' also kicks open the door to the irrestible notion that at some stage they all ought to be invited to return to their country of origin, 'their own countries'. As French National Front leader Jean Marie Le Pen put it: 'I love Muslims but they belong in Maghreb'. Following his party's capturing of Belgiums second city Antwerp the leader of the far-right Vlamms Blok Filip DeWinter made similar remarks. "I don't believe in all these cultures living together...If I want to experience other cultures I will go to other countries." Lone voices like those of Anti-Fascist Action who have tried to warn the Left of the political ambush they are walking into have, when not ignored or derided, just as often been accused of being fascists themselves. For further references see Race And Class section of this site. (see: http://www.redaction.org/race_and_class/contents.html) The full text of the speech by Parmit Uppal can be obtained by request from the bulletin board of the TPAS site. (see: http://www.tpas.org.uk). ====================================================================== Abdoulie A. Jallow www.dalasigram.com Making sending funds home more fun than hassle. [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask] 402-639-1105 _______________________________________________________ Send a cool gift with your E-Card http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------